Re: first bimmer - general questions

[alex.fadeev@xxxxxxxxxxx]

"Jed Crystal" <jc@domain.elided> wrote:
> 
> First, many thanks to everyone for all of your advice in my search 
> for my first BMW.  I ended up buying an '88 325is from a list member
> and have been very happy with it so far.

Congratulations on your new toy!

> 1) Brakes
> 4) Radio
> 5) Stiff Shifter

Tony did a great job addressing the above three. Do what he says!

> 2) Thump/vibration
> There's a wiggly soft thump thump thump that is barely audible, but
> I can feel it in the wheel and the floor (but not the brake pedal).
> This is much more noticeable in powered left turns (highway speeds)

Jed,
How many miles do you have on the car?
If over 150K, does the maintenance history include front wheel bearing 
replacements? The fact that the sound intensity changes during turns would 
point in that direction.
Another possibility are your wheels/tires? What exactly/how old are the 
tires? Has the car been driven regularly before you bought it? 
If you leave the car sitting in one place for a while, some tires conform 
to the pavement and develop flat spots. Others deteriorate with age. Or 
ride on bent wheels.

> 3) OBC. Does an 88 325is have an OBC I or II? 

AFAIK, there is only one OBC (On Board Computer), not to be confused with 
OBD (On Board Diagnostics which did go from v1 to v2 with '96 MY).

> I replaced the light (thanks to unofficialbmw.com FAQ!) , but can't
> seems to get the ave. MPG or ave. Speed, or Range to reset.  All I
> get is the dashes on the screen.  Although, sometimes when I'm turning
> the car off, I get a split second flash of data.....

That's weird.
Check the harness that plugs in the back of the instrument cluster that 
feeds that data to the OBC.

> 6) Parts. I'm looking for a trim piece for the front spoiler.  It's
> the lowermost part.  I think it's called the chin spoiler and was 
> originally black rubber.

It's also called the 'lip' and at least 50% of the cars on the road are 
missing it. 
Dealer will have them. 
Later ('89+ cars) have two types: thinner 'i' and thicker 'is' lip. I'm 
not sure about your '88, but if you have an option of buying the thinner 
'i' lip, I would suggest going just that. And double check to makes sure 
that all dozen or so clips are holding it to the airdam are intact. 

HTH,
alex f

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